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Home > ESApod, audio and video from space > Man-made star shines in the southern sky
Podcast: ESApod, audio and video from space
Episode:

Man-made star shines in the southern sky

Category: Science & Medicine
Duration: 00:05:01
Publish Date: 2006-03-02 03:05:00
Description:

ESO astronomers have been able to create an 'artificial star' 90 km high in the atmosphere, using a laser beam. This star can be put at any point in the sky, and it enables the adaptive optics of the VLT telescope to be used throughout the visible sky. Until now, adaptive optics required the light of a strong natural star as a reference; now, the artificial star will do this. The new technology enlarges the field of vision of the most powerful telescope on Earth.

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